Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 3 2 2003 10.5194/acpd-3-1333-2003 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/3/1333/2003/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/3/1333/2003/acpd-3-1333-2003.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/3/1333/2003/acpd-3-1333-2003.pdf 1333 1366 2003-02-13 An evolution strategy to estimate emission source distributions on a regional scale from atmospheric observations P. O’Brien D. Corcoran D. Lowry Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland Physics Department, University of Limerick, Ireland Department of Geology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK In this paper we present an Evolution Strategy (ES) approach towards the estimation of the location and strength of surface emissions of trace gases based on atmospheric concentration measurements and back-trajectory analyses. The details of the ES developed are outlined. The ES is tested using artificial emission maps at different grid resolutions and the results compared to those obtained on the same problems using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). In almost all cases, the ES improves on SVD at equivalent resolutions. In addition, a number of insights, which the ES approach brings to the problem of source location and emission strength, are discussed, particularly the limitations on the use of measurement and meteorological data in the determination of emission source distribution.